I met with Vidor chamber of commerce last night. A very good meeting. They want to support our tournament. They are going to set up a large tent at festival and we will play the games at the festival. On Friday night, we will hold exhibition and play guests at the fair, for those players that want to participate.I am thinking some good money very soon!!

.............Watson Franks also received $100 as District Winner and Texas Champion---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What a Week!

Thank you to Vidor Business Network for their sponsorship of District 8 & Texas State Championship Checkers Tournament. With their generous donation of $1500 and a $300 donation from Joe McDaniel, we saw a total tournament fund of $1800! That provided a great week for all.

Tournament Director Watson Franks was hard at work throughout the year getting ready for this week. The news was in the local papers as well as on Channel 12 News! Everyone knew about the Checkers Tournament.

Franks was able to locate the perfect spot to host the tournament. Lakewood Community Center offered their place and Franks was quick to accept. The beauty of the area was appreciated by all. The room was spacious, clean and perfect to host this year's tournament. We sincerely thank Lakewood Community for the pleasure of meeting at this site.

The tournament began on Friday morning. The business meeting saw Watson Franks elected as the new District 8 Manager. Elbert Jones, the previous year's manager, nominated Franks. He was elected without opposition. Those present approved the round robin style with three rounds on Friday and two rounds on Saturday.

After two rounds of morning play, the players were given the opportunity to order whatever they desired for lunch from Barbque Depot in Vidor. The food was picked up from the Depot and brought to the players. Delicious!

The tournament concluded on Saturday morning. The first round saw Albert Tucker face off against Franks with the tournament on the line. After a draw in the first game, Tucker won a hard fought contest in the second game. After a win in the final match against Quinten Pierce, Tucker was officially the tournament champion.

Franks came away with the District Title and the Texas State Title by finishing 2nd in the tournament after a first game win over Joe McDaniel. Quinten Pierce finished in a tight second in the race for District.

It was a fun weekend for all. Director Franks even brought his Dog Spicy over to do some great dog tricks to the delight of all.

Plans are already in the making for next year's tournament. We hope to be even bigger and better! We are doing our best to help the game of Checkers grow in this area. We will hope once again to have the best players in the state as well as the five state area of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kansas.

Checker players are some of the best people that you will want to meet. They are good sports, hard workers and competitive. Come out next year and check these players out and see what it is like. Enter into the competition and see how you stack up against the best.